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Over at Elevated Voices, Jeralyn Merritt brings up a point that I’ve been wondering, too: Is it appropriate to celebrate anyone’s death, even someone as evil as al-Zarqawi? As she puts it:

Am I the only one who thinks it is inappropriate to rejoice over the murder of another human being? What ever happened to the days when miscreants were apprehended and brought to justice in a court of law? When did assassination become not only acceptable but a cause for giddiness?

al-Zarqawi did some horrible, disgusting things. He is responsible for innumerable deaths, tortures, crimes against humanity. But still, how does rejoicing in his death help? Aren’t the terrorists bad specifically because they kill people? And aren’t we better than them because we abhor death and destruction?

It is good that al-Zarqawi will not be able to kill or torture anyone else. But that does not mean that we should be happy that he was killed. Relieved, yes. But happy?